CLEARLAKE >> The Lake Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) approved an update to Clearlake’s municipal service review (MSR) and sphere of influence, defining the latter as the city’s boundaries.
Sphere of influence determines the service area for various local agencies. John Benoit, LAFCo executive director, presented the final draft of the updates to the commission.
In the case of Clearlake, “the sphere of influence is the same as the city boundaries,” Benoit said. However, the city’s general plan is not completed, nor is its environmental impact review certified. Both are expected to be completed by the summer.
Originally, the general plan was expected to be complete by Wednesday’s meeting, but was postponed because of missing information, according to Clearlake City Manager Joan Phillipe.
Concerns regarding bonded indebtedness from bonds issued by the former redevelopment agency were resolved since LAFCo received a draft of the review.
“It doesn’t seem to be a problem,” Benoit said.
The Clearlake Redevelopment Successor Agency is repaying the bonds from annual property tax increments, which is paid semi-annually to the agency.
Combined costs for repayment of the two bonds total a little less than $1,112,000 each year.
Flood control services were cause for more concern, which have been problematic because of a lack of a clear line of authority.
“Street flooding and incidental flooding on the streets is done the city and public works,” Benoit “The issue becomes what about the stream beds that go into Clear Lake? That is not clearly defined within the watershed protection district.”
However, LAFCo does not have the authority to delegate those responsibilities to any agency.
“All we can do is analyze in an MSR, make determinations … and then develop a planning document,” LAFCo Attorney Scott Browne explained.
In other LAFCo news, the final budget for the 2015/16 fiscal year was approved by the commission.
“I was starting to become concerned we wouldn’t meet our revenue carryover and that distorts the whole budget,” Benoit said.
The revenue carryover will be as stated in the proposed budget, which was presented to the commission in March and totals $30,000.
Without the carryover the total budget would have totaled $131,553, which will be requested from the county, independent special districts and the cities. Lakeport and Clearlake will each contribute 16.5-percent, while the county and independent special districts will contribute 33 percent each.
Commissioner stipends account for a little more that $5,000 of the total budget, a total of $25,000 is allocated for MSRs and $10,000 for sphere of influences.
The largest budget item is executive officer services, which covers administration costs for a total of approximately $48,500.
A general reserve of $20,000 will also be accounted for in the budget.
The MSR, sphere of influence and budget were all approved with a 6-0 vote. Commissioner Joyce Overton was absent from the meeting.
J. W. Burch, IV can be reached at 900-2022
